Jordan Wood is again vying to be the Democratic Party’s champion against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins this November.
The former vice president of End Citizens United announced his candidacy Thursday morning, less than a day after Graham Platner dropped out following Politico’s reporting this week about a former girlfriend’s allegation that the man from Sullivan raped her in 2021, a claim that Platner has denied.
Under state law, Democrats have until 5 p.m. on July 27 to nominate a replacement. In addition to Wood, former Maine Senate President and gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention chief Nirav Shah, Maine Beer Co. co-founder Dan Kleban, state Rep. Valli Geiger, social worker and former 2nd Congressional District candidate Paige Loud, and David Costello, who vied with Platner for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate during the June primary, have all entered the mad-dash sprint to replace the oyster farmer.
“This has been a tough week for all of us in Maine who have demanded real change in Washington and in our lives. Our campaign will continue to build on the powerful populist movement Graham started, and I welcome every Mainer who believes in his vision to continue to build that better world,” Wood said in a statement announcing his bid.
Wood, who bowed out of the U.S. Senate race last fall to instead run for Maine’s 2nd District, a race which he lost to Matt Dunlap, is pledging to fight for Medicare for all, universal child care, higher taxes on billionaires and ending “forever wars.”
The Maine Democratic Party faces an unprecedented process of replacing its standard-bearer for November’s U.S. Senate race. Democrats have been scrambling to distance themselves from Platner after 41-year-old Jenny Racicot, who met Platner on the dating app Bumble in 2019 and had an on-again, off-again relationship with him, accused the progressive newcomer of raping her.
In a later interview with CNN, Racicot said that a drunken Platner showed up uninvited to her home. Racicot said Platner forced himself on her over her objections, telling CNN that he seemed too drunk to even register what she was saying.
Platner allegedly didn’t use protection, despite Racicot’s objection, during the non-consensual intercourse, which Racicot told CNN she complied with out of fear.
“Complying is not consenting,” Racicot told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Platner’s record vote-getting win in June’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary came despite a barrage of negative press since his deleted posts on the website Reddit became public, including inflammatory statements about rural white Americans, Black people and women, and comments dismissive of women’s fears about rape.
Then it came out that Platner had a chest tattoo of a skull over crossbones resembling a symbol adopted by the Nazi SS during World War II.
Platner denied knowing the meaning of the tattoo, which he got in 2007 while deployed abroad with the U.S. Marines. He has since had it covered.
Wood was among the Democrats who called on Platner to end his campaign last fall over his Reddit comments and tattoo.
Platner’s chances for clinching the nomination seemed at risk just days ahead of the primary when the Wall Street Journal reported that he had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women early in his marriage to Amy Gertner, who disclosed those messages to his campaign shortly after its launch, and then a New York Times story wherein his ex-girlfriends described volatile and toxic behavior, including instances of physical intimidation.
Racicot was among the women who spoke with The Times about Platner’s “unsettling” and “reckless” behavior, but she didn’t go public with the rape allegation until after the fallout over The Times’ story centered largely on one accuser’s ties to Republican organizations.
It will be an uphill battle for Democrats to unseat Collins, who officially announced her historic bid for a sixth term in February. The Republican has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate. But Collins, who has been ranked the country’s most bipartisan senator, has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.
If Collins is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.
If you or someone you know needs resources or support related to sexual violence, contact the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s 24/7 hotline at 800-871-7741.